cooking, sewing, and "art"

I was at the grocery store the other day picking up a few things, among those items was milk.  I've not been drinking as much as I use to (milk!), so I've dropped down from buying a gallon to a quart.  I've notice before that the pricing is ridiculous.  This time it just irritated me even more that the price of a quart of milk was actually higher than the price of a gallon of the same brand.  I decided the heck with it, and just bought a pint.  Per ounce its even more, but it felt better for some strange psychological reason.  What's wrong with these people?

I also picked up some Bisquick when I was at the store.  Elise had watched Sid the Science Kid, and Sid was pondering the question of why his dad's pancakes are always blackened and crispy, his mother's are gummy in the middle, and his grandma's are perfectly golden and taste delicious.  It got me to thinking that I really need to experiement a bit and see if I can make better pancakes than the usually blackened ones I turn out.   There may be a better batter to use than Bisquick, and if you have a preference please let me know, but that's what I used.   Sorry I have no marvelous pictures, but this morning's experiment just came together at the last minute.

I made half the recipe, got my pan nice and hot, had some butter on it to cook the pancake in, and ladled in a big spoonful.  I expected to see the little bubbles that pop up and tell you its getting done, but none ever showed up.  I finally flipped it, and of course it was blackened a bit.

The next one I reduced my heat a bit, ladeled on another spoonful of batter, and again, no bubbles.  This one did turn out a big gummy though not as blackened.  Progress?  Of a sort I guess.

The next one I kept the heat on the lower temp, and managed to not have it blackened, and while it wasn't gummy inside, wasn't a beautiful golden color.  Still didn't have any bubbles appear.

Finally I thought to add a bit more milk to the batter to thin it.  This time I came closer to having the bubbles, and it browned without scorching, so I was pleased enough.  I made one more and called it done.  I added some maple syrup, and they tasted fine.  Not wonderful, but fine.   On the HGTV cooking forum (I think that's where I saw this) they had talked about the real deal maple syrup being so good.  I bought some on an earlier shopping trip, so used it for the first time with my pancakes, and it was good.  To be fair, I'll have to try it with French toast some morning, something that I already know how to fix.  :)

In other news, Marciel in my Bunco group is having some health issues.  She had made a bit of a start on a t-shirt quilt last year, and it got set to the side.  Long story short, one of the other Bunco girls, Lisa, asked if I'd want to help her finish the quilt top, and get it ready to go to the quilter.  Of course!  So we made a good start last weekend, getting the sashing attached to all the blocks.  So nice when one can cut while the other one sews.  The during the week I sewed the rows together, and it's now ready for the borders.  Lisa will be over one night this week and we'll get that part done.  Here's where we are so far.

And to show that I have a bit of variety in my interests, smile, here's my latest art work.  Along with my helper of course.  The floral is a little fat quarter (fq) that I'm sending to a fellow quilter who's having some medical issues, but  I decided the blank spot on the front of the card needed something.  Wahlah, an art opportunity!

And of course, my helper Elise.

I guess that's it for now.  Have a good week everyone.

this and that

Sometimes I'm almost compelled to hold onto something just because it might come in handy someday.  I'm getting better about letting go of things, but still have my moments.  And this time it paid off.

Last summer I cut off some denim capris that I didn't like the length, and made them shorter.   There was this set, and one darker.

They yelled out "wait a minute, don't toss me in the trash!"   Probably because of the buttons, who knows.

Now that I'm making a few doll clothes, I thought they might work out for some pants for the doll.  The buttons were too big to look right, but by cutting them to use the inner leg seam they worked out fine.  That seam turned into the outer leg seam for the doll.  And they already had a nice hem, so that was less sewing and working with the heavy denim.   Here's a picture using the darker denim, along with another pair I made using the fabric from the shirt I made last week.  I had a scrap of lace trim that worked well with it.

The pink ones are a tad longer, so we'll say the denims are more of a cropped length.  :)

Angela sent me a phone picture of Ashlynn with her doll and the clothes from last week.

Ashlynn may get tired of the little clothes, but for now I'm enjoying doing something different.

In another area of interest, little Elise has shown an affinity for tucking things away in special spots where she can find them readily.  I may have mentioned that a month or two ago I couldn't find my Ipod.  I looked everywhere I could think.  I happened to mention it in front of Elise, and she immediately went to my room, opened up a small dresser drawer, and sure enough there it was.  It was upside down, and had I glanced in there would most likely have overlooked it.   I've taken a few pictures recently of things I've come across.

Hair bands on the door knob.

 A pill fob on a jar top.

And a couple of bits of red reindeer fabric (from making the boot scootin' tree skirt) in my little drawer with tea towels.

Ah, its the little things that keeps life interesting.

And here's a fun picture of Robert, Angela, Rhett, and Ashlynn.  Angela thought she wouldn't be in it, but surprise!  And I love the look on Rhett's face. 

That's it.  Have a good week. 

got some stuff done

Its been a good week.  I was able to finish piecing the Boot Scootin' Tree Skirt, so it will be off to the longarm quilter soon.  It came out well, and I'm pleased.  After it comes back from being quilted, it will be cut from one side into the center, with a hole in the center to fit around the tree.

I also made some doll clothes for Ashlynn's 18" doll this week.  I don't have a doll here to try them on, so I'm hoping they will fit okay.  I plan on making a pair of pants in the same fabric as the pink shirt this next week, and maybe some more once I can verify they fit fine.

As I opened the pattern for the doll clothes, it can be overwhelming to see 29 or 30 little pieces to make the various garments.  The first thing I did was separate the pieces into individual envelopes, and put them into a larger envelope for storage.  It will be quite easy to make a pair of pants, or whatever, by just pulling the appropriate envelope and not having to pick through all the loose pieces.

We got another puzzle worked this week...150 dinosaurs and an egg.  1000 pieces.  It was definitely a challenge, but fun.  Elise enjoyed it too.

That's all for now.  Have a good week!

still stitching

I've mentioned I was in a mug rug swap this month, and today I received my mug rug from Evelyn.  Really pretty, I call it kind of a coral rose color, with turquoise stitching.  In case you can't read it clearly, it says Lovely, Loving, Legendary, Ladylike, and Loyal, with the letters spelling out my name lined up vertically and stitched in green.  Amazing how someone who hasn't met me got it exactly right!  :)

I also mentioned earlier that I'm using Evelyn's instructions to make a Boot Scootin' Tree Skirt (Elizabeth helped me come up with the name).  I've made good progress.  All eight boots are stitched, and now I'm working on the rest of the design.  Here's what I've got ready to show.

My neighbor girl Emma and one of her sisters were over recently for a couple of hours, so we came up with an embroidery project for her.  We transferred a flower picture to a piece of Kona muslin for her to stitch.  I wish I'd have thought and just drawn out some straight lines, as well as some curvy and circular.  With her limited experience, it probably would have been more appropriate, but she seemed to enjoy it well enough.  I laughed and told her that when I was learning, and even as recently as the last couple of months, I've been known to stitch the piece to my clothing.  You can guess what happened...she stitched to her clothes!  But overall I think she liked the process.

In other news, Elise and I completed another puzzle.  This one is a 1000 piece Route 66 puzzle.  She tickles me that she enjoys it as much as she does.  Generally I show her where a piece goes and she'll put it in, but there are times she'll hold the piece up to the picture, and show me where it goes.  I thought when we finished that she'd be ready to work a couple of her little puzzles, but she wanted another one of mine.  Of course I was happy to oblige.

Okay, that's it for now.  Have a good weekend everyone.

off to a good start

Ah, 2013 is moving right along.  I've been doing  a bit of sewing here and there.

While I was in the journal-making mode, I came across some fabric with dachshunds, and immediately thought of Virgil and Brenda since they have one.  After I got the fabric home, I noticed that alternate rows of the dogs running across were upside down.  That didn't really thrill me, so I cut out the strips with them right side up, sewed them together, and proceeded from there.  It came out cute, and only after mailing it did I pick up on something I hadn't intended...2 identical rows are next to each other.  Ah well, it's still cute, and they seemed to like it.

In December I signed up for a mug rug swap over on the HGTV quilting and sewing forum.  I was drawn to this swap because it was one-on-one, meaning I didn't have to make a bunch of things, just one item for one particular person.   I was matched up with EvelynB, a very talented lady here in Texas.  This was an initial mug rug swap, so I was to use her initial "E" and work up something from there.  Some use embroidery or applique and/or objects that start with the letter.  I deviated a bit, and used it as a monogram with the mug rug itself telling a little about her.  I appliqued the E, and kind of crazy quilted a rug depicting her and her husband as young retirees having fun and enjoying life, and items to represent her children as well as her sewing hobby.  The backing reflects Texax Tech as her alma mater.

While looking at EvelynB's posts to get an idea of what she might like, I came across a posting showing a tree skirt pattern with boots that she designed.  I'd been looking for something I liked to make for Robert and Angela, and her skirt with boots is just right. She graciously gave her permission to use her design, so thank you Evelyn!  Here's her picture from the HGTV boards.  Since they have a size limitation, it's definitely small but you can get a good idea of what it looks like. 

Here are three of my boot blocks.  5 more to go, and then I can work in the rest of the design.  Sorry about the small picture, I'm having problems downloading pics from my canera into the computer, so this is a phone picture.

Okay, guess that's it for now.  Maybe it won't take me another 2 or 3 weeks to get back and show you my progress.  :)

Merry Christmas to all...

December is always a busy month, and this one is no exception.

I've mentioned the Twelve Days of Christmas swap I participated in, and we've now finished opening and are able to post pictures, so here we go!

First, these are the gifts I made...luggage tags.  I got to stretch my wings a bit because I've not sewn on vinyl before.  I learned the trick of putting tissue paper on top of the vinyl to sew, because it would stick otherwise and not feed through.  I also used quite a bit of my scraps of binding!

And here's the first set of items I received.

The lotion and blue coin purse were from Catwomn27; the Dear Santa wallhanging from Angelinamor; the bookmarker on the right from DJillM; the bookmarkers in the center from Gemsq; the gray cell phone holder made from a tie is from LanaR, along with a page of her favorite recipes; and the pincushion with snippers in the center is from Fleur53.

Here's the second set received.

Starting in the lower left, the box of note paper is from Nylirose; the 4 potholders from Quilter Chris; the pin cushion is from Ely (if I'm guessing correct, made from a tuna can!  I only know because I held onto 5 or  6 tuna cans for several years thinking I'd make one and didn't).  The blue covered notebook is from PatriciaAnn, and the 2 mug rugs are from Margie.

This cute little thread holder came from Luvthosequilts.  It came a few days later than the others, so it got its own picture.  For those of you not familiar with thread holders, they hold the snippets of thread you have, whether from doing handwork or machine work.  Kind of tidies up the work area.

Its nice to see the creativity these ladies come up with in making small little remembrances for next to nothing.  My kind of people!  I'm sure I'll be doing it again next year, along with several of the other ladies.

I also used directions from a PJ party class on journal covers, and came up with a few.  We had a class on the same subject a few years ago, and those covers came out well, but these were quite a bit simpler. 

I don't get the opportunity to watch Rhett and Ashlynn a whole lot, but I did a week ago when Robert and Angela went out.  It was nice to be able to spend some time with them.  We went to Rosa's Cafe for a light dinner.

Last night the kids and grandkids came over for our family time.  Unfortunately poor little Ashlynn got sick on the way over and Angela took her home, so she didn't make it into the pictures.  She's doing better today though, so hopefully it was either something she ate disagreed with her, or a little bug.

Elise and I made some shaped sugar cookies Saturday night, and the kids got to get their hands into decorating.

And Lily gave a concert to display her skill with the violin.  Fun!

After presents were opened, David helped Rhett make sure his toy was working properly.

And this year I decided to give myself a present, and got a KitchenAid mixer.  Anyone who knows me knows I don't cook a whole lot, so it's a bit of a stretch for me to have this, but after borrowing Elizabeth's to make the cookies, I was hooked.  I was really impressed with how it whipped the cheese balls together!  Here I am with a slicing attachment, playing with it a bit.  Still on a learning curve, the bell pepper wasn't a nice clean cut...but I'm still impressed.  :)

December is also a good month for working puzzles.  Elise has gotten big enough now that I feel comfortable working them in the living room when I watch her during the week.  She's turning into quite the puzzle person!  I'm glad she enjoys them.  You can see her little monkey there in the corner.  He helped too.

That's it for now.  I hope you have had the opportunity to fully appreciate all the blessings in your life.  At this time of year when we celebrate the birth of Christ, we can also celebrate each other.  Merry Christmas!

And to all...a good night.

you ask who cares...well I do!

Elizabeth gave me a nifty little book (well, she may have loaned me the book) about blogging. 

Its a good little book, so this is not a criticism at all.  However....

I made the most delicious meal yesterday!   I told you I'm in the 12 Days of Christmas swap.  Well, in one of the packages I opened she included a page of her favorite recipes.  I tried her roast recipe, and it was so good.     Note:  proper credit will be given to her at the end of the swap...I'll come in to edit this.  Editing to add:  Swapper LanaR was the cook! 

"Using a chuck roast, use A1 sauce to marinade in (I do mine for several hours), put into a dish and cover with a package of Lipton onion soup mix and a can of mushroom soup.  Cover and cook for 2 hours at 350.  When I do it mine always takes longer and I uncover it.  It is so tender and good!"

Now I modified it to the extent that I put it in the crock pot (and I always use Pam spray on the crock to make clean up easier), and added maybe 1/2 soup can of water.  Oh, I also am not a fan of mushrooms so I used cream of celery soup. 

When I bought my chuck roast, the store didn't have any small packages, so my $11 package was cut into 3 sections and I have 2 in the freezer.  I still used the full can of soup and the full package of onion soup mix (store brand) for the gravy.   Since I cook for one, I didn't bother with sides.  Instead I had an open-face sandwich on toast.  I'm sorry there's not a picture to share, but I was ready to jump in and start eating!

So there you have it.  Even though the book says no one cares what I had for lunch, I'm taking a chance and telling you what I had for dinner.